Tips on How to Sell Your Property

Springtime is the best time to sell a house, so spend the early months of the year preparing. Agents are saying it will be better to get your house on the market before election fever gets a grip and slows everything down.

GET THE VALUATION RIGHT
This is the absolute Holy Grail. Valuations from agents fluctuate wildly. It is probably best to get at least three and to select an agent who pitches in the middle. It can be very confusing. Some prices are exactly where they were 18 months ago and some are considerably down, there does not seem to be any particular logic to it, as some properties attract considerable attention while others hang around not selling. Listen to what the market is telling you. As a general rule, if your property came to the market in the last quarter of 2009 and you haven’t received any offers, it’s clear that you need to reduce the price.”

BE CONFIDENT
Remember there is a huge shortage of good houses for sale at the moment. The National Association of Estate Agents reports that on average there are five buyers for every house. You only have to catch one.

CHECK BUYER FINANCE
Insist on a financial reference from buyers to confirm they have the necessary funds to complete the purchase Beware of so-called “cash buyer”. Many buyers are under the illusion that just because they do not have anything to sell it makes them cash buyers and you may find that they are actually taking out a mortgage

PRESENTATION IS ALL
Clean it, paint it, fix it and ruthlessly remove clutter, think about first impressions. Don’t paint your front door neon yellow, it may not be to everyone’s taste.

GET THE PAPERWORK SORTED
Help your buyer’s move quickly once they have made their minds up. Speak to your solicitor or licensed conveyancer well in advance. That way, key information can be with their solicitors within 24 hours of an offer being accepted. Also, get your solicitors to prepare a draft contract before a buyer is found, so you are in a position to exchange within 10 days.

MAXIMISE THE POTENTIAL
Think positive, you can add value to your property by obtaining planning consent for a loft extension or rear extension, then it may be worthwhile having the drawings done and getting the consent in place. This will appeal to buyers who would be keen to do work but are concerned about whether they would get consent. Obtaining consents with the right architect on board isn’t vastly costly and could add a lot of value.

CONSIDER SELLING QUIETLY
Off-market or under-the-counter sales are becoming popular among the country house set – so, for a top price and posh brokering, take the quiet route

YOU CAN ALWAYS LET
The drop in rental values is now over and prices are inching upwards again, renewed confidence in the high-finance world of corporate lets is already being felt as big family houses in leafy roads are being snapped up again.

Second Homes

If you or your husband / wife or any other party to this transaction own any other properties, you might have to pay a higher rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).

Property owners purchasing an additional property to their main residence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be affected by the rise in SDLT.
If you already own properties but plan to buy a permanent home to replace another, you are exempt from the paying the higher rate.

If you own two properties on the day of completion of the purchase of your second property but still legally own your first property and plan to sell, you are still obliged to pay the higher rate of SDLT.
A refund is available if you sell your former residence property within 36 months.

First Time Buyer

A first time buyer is defined as an individual or individuals who have never owned an interest in a residential property in the United Kingdom or anywhere else in the world and who intends to occupy the property as their main residence.

Property Tenure Type

There are two fundamentally different forms of legal ownership: freehold and leasehold.
If you own the freehold, it means that you own the building and the land it stands on outright.
With Leasehold, you own the lease from the freeholder (sometimes called the landlord) to use the home for a number of years.